Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Menstrual Period: Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Girls

The length women go to to impress men! And we're not talking about hair, makeup, clothes, the gym, being conversant on all topics, cooking and cleaning, and sexual gymnastics. Apparently, what women also worry about is their menstrual condition.

A study looking at the effects of a social stigma on impression management concerns found:

--28 menstruating and 30 nonmenstruating women were interviewed by a male colleague who either was or was not aware of their menstrual condition.

--Menstruating women who believed that the interviewer knew they were menstruating perceived that the interviewer liked them less, yet were more motivated to make an impression on him.

--Menstruating women who thought the interviewer was unaware of their menstrual condition didn't try so hard to impress the interviewer (relative to the first group).

--Nonmenstruating women reported more self-presentational motivation and perceived the interviewer viewed them more positively than he did the menstruating women.

Someone needs to be held responsible for this! I say we blame the men while we, of course, continue to try our best to impress them.